The Hottest Summer Solstice: Daylight Appreciation Day 2017

Dusk Of The Summer Solstice In The Statue Garden at The Huntington Library*

So how did you spend the longest day of the year?
Did you show some appreciation for the daylight?

Why? Because it’s officially Summertime and things are only
going to get darker, hotter and naughtier from here on out…

History of Daylight Appreciation Day: Since time out of mind mankind has been aware of the ever-changing pattern of the year, the cycling of long periods of night to long periods of daylight. In the past these events were assigned mystical elements, marking the transition of some great sun god from the land of the living to the land of the dead, to ultimately be reborn in deep winter when the days began getting longer again. In most cultures a great ceremony was held around both these events, commemorating the glory days of the Gods strength, and his ultimate passing into the dark to be reborn once again. —Days Of The Year

It’s amazing what sights you will see, if you only pause to look…

* Summer Solstice: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens — “In 1910, Henry E. Huntington began acquiring a large collection of outdoor sculptures, personally deciding on the exact location for each piece of garden statuary. Some of the statues were moved as many as three times until Huntington was satisfied. Love is a common theme among the garden sculpture, most of which dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, although some are the works of 20th-century American artists such as Anna Hyatt Huntington, the wife of Archer Huntington, Arabella’s only child by her first marriage. Visitors today can see an array of statuary in different media and from various cultural traditions…”